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英语的平行结构是什么? 搭配例句说明

英语写作常见问题之一是句子的平行结构(或称对称结构parallelism),也就是说当句子或单字结合在一起的时候,必须确保每一个部分都是「同等价值」,也就是必须是同样形式。

平行结构是什么呢?

直接举例,看你是否能发现其中的问题。

  1. I like apples, oranges, and going to the zoo.
  2. The coach advised that I should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and that joining a gym would make this easier.
  3. Mary is a celebrated author, dancer, and writes great songs.

有发现吗?没关系,我们把其中有问题的地方标出来了,而底线的地方则是平行结构的起始点。

  1. I like apples, oranges, and going to the zoo.
  2. The coach advised that I should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and that joining a gym would make this easier.
  3. Mary is a celebrated author, dancer, and writes great songs.

知道为什么红字部分错了吗? 下面分析句型给你看

这些句子就是不符合平行结构,句中的同等位置的单字没有以同样的文法形式呈现。

如何改正平行结构(parallelism)?

平行结构修改方法有三种,目的是为了让每一个部分的语法形式都一致,我们利用上方的句子作范例说明。

方法一: 修改少数与其他文法形式不一致的部分

方法一是修正平行结构最简单的方式,大部分句子都可以使用方法一来解决,但是复杂句或子句较多的长句,可能无法适用此方法,因为有可能会变动意思,此类句子推荐使用方法三来修正。

  非平行结构句 正确平行结构句
1 I like apples, oranges, and going to the zoo. I like apples, oranges, and zoos.
2 The coach advised that I should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and that joining a gym would make this easier. The coach advised that I should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and join a gym. (Here, we lose some meaning regarding the fact that joining a gym would make exercising easier.)
3 Mary is a celebrated author, dancer, and writes great songs. Mary is a celebrated author, dancer, and songwriter.

方法二: 修改多数与其他文法形式不一致的部分

要小心使用方法二,因为修改多数以配合少数的语法形式容易导致句子重复性高,见句一,因此我们只推荐方法一。另外,方法二也无法避免变动句子意思的风险。

  非平行结构句 正确平行结构句
1 I like apples, oranges, and going to the zoo. I like eating apples, eating oranges, and going to the zoo (“eating” is repetitive).
2 The coach advised that I should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and that joining a gym would make this easier. The coach recommended exercising regularly, eating healthily, and joining a gym. (Here, we lose some meaning regarding the fact that joining a gym would make exercising easier.)
3 Mary is a celebrated author, dancer, and writes great songs. Mary is celebrated because she writes books, dances, and writes great songs.

方法三: 拆解句子

有时候修改句子可能需要将句子重组,否则可能会意外变动到原意。为避免失去句子原意,我们建议将句子衍伸。

  非平行结构句 正确平行结构句
1 I like apples, oranges, and going to the zoo. I like eating apples and orangesI also like going to the zoo.
2 The coach advised that I should eat healthily, exercise regularly, and that joining a gym would make this easier. The coach advised that I should eat healthily and exercise regularly. He also told me that joining a gym would make working out easier.
3 Mary is a celebrated author, dancer, and writes great songs. Mary is a celebrated author and dancer. She also writes great songs.

注意: 比较句

多数简单的平行结构句子都是由”and,” “or,” 或”but.”对等连接词所连接,其他较复杂的句子结构则令人相当困扰,例如: 修饰子句的平行结构(例:关系子句和分词子句) 和比较子句(例:相关连接词)。

以上的句型皆须要使用平行结构!

在修改这一类的句子时, 找到前后部分并检查是否两边都是同样的文法形式。

非平行结构句 正确平行结构句
I like the big house built in 1910 and features two great living rooms. I like the big house built in 1910 that features two great living rooms. (Eliminate the problematic parallel structure by removing the conjunction.)
Mary owns a PR company, a place giving many growth opportunities and where people are rewarded based on merit (participial phrase + subordinate clause). Mary owns a PR company, a place giving many growth opportunities where people are rewarded based on merit. (Deleting the “and” fixes the parallelism issue. This method works for most cases where a participial phrase and subordinate clause are connected by a conjunction.)
I not only like to play the violin, but also dancing. I not only like to play the violin, but I also like to dance.
OR
I like to not only play the violin but also dance.
Either we go to the store now or wait until next week. Either we go to the store now or we wait until next week.
I prefer to go on a vacation than a bonus. I prefer to go on a vacation than to receive a bonus.

注意:动词时态转换

另一个令人纠结的平行结构是动词转换。回想看看你是否有说过类似以下的句子:

  1. “I really like this movie, which was why I bought it.”
  2. We knew that we had little time, work had to be finished, and we needed to hurry.

感觉很自然的句子,你发现错在哪了吗??

  1. “I really like this movie, which was why I bought it.”
  2. We knew that we had little time, work had to be finished, and we needed to hurry.

句一的时态从现在转到过去而句二则在that句子突然转换成被动语态。现在来修正句子。

  1. “I really like this movie, which is why I bought it.”
  2. We knew that we had little time, we had to finish the work, and we needed to hurry.

平行结构检查一览表

  1. 找出句中的连接词
  2. 检查连接词左右方的单字或句子是否为同样的形式,例如:动词、名词、形容词、 -ing子句等等。
  3. 检查句中的子句,是否在同等位置有类似的句子?
  4. 在句中的连接词两边的动词时态是否一致?
  5. 如果句中有列表,是否列表 (A, B, C, etc.) 内容物的语法形式皆一致?

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